Circles of Time

From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Passing Bells, "immensely energetic, top entertainment in the Upstairs/Downstairs vein" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

A generation has been lost on the Western Front. The dead have been buried, a harsh peace forged, and the howl of shells replaced by the wail of saxophones as the Jazz Age begins. But ghosts linger—that long-ago golden summer of 1914 tugging at the memory of Martin Rilke and his British cousins, the Grevilles.

From the countess to the chauffeur, the inhabitants of Abingdon Pryory seek to forget the past and adjust their lives to a new era in which old values, social codes, and sexual mores have been irretrievably swept away. Martin Rilke throws himself into reporting, discovering unsettling political currents, as Fenton Wood-Lacy faces exile in faraway army outposts. Back at Abingdon, Charles Greville shows signs of recovery from shell shock and Alexandra is caught up in an unlikely romance.

Circles of Time captures the age as these strongly drawn characters experience it, unfolding against England's most gracious manor house, the steamy nightclubs of London's Soho, and the despair of Germany caught in the nightmare of anarchy and inflation. Lives are renewed, new loves found, and a future of peace and happiness is glimpsed—for the moment.

"Written with life and warmth . . . The characters are so real that you don't want their story to end." —Chicago Tribune Book World

"Heartfelt . . . superbly done. Rock has an urgent sense of history as it is made, not only by the great figures but by ordinary people." —Cleveland Plain Dealer